http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/21/education/mechanical-mooc-to-rely-on-free-learning-sites.htmlFree Online Course Will Rely on Multiple Sites
By TAMAR LEWIN
New York Times
August 21, 2012
A group of online-learning ventures is collaborating on a new kind of free class to be offered this fall, known as a mechanical MOOC (for “massive open online course”), that will teach a computer-programming language by patching together existing resources from open-learning sites.
Unlike courses already available online, the new class will not require a traditional instructor, or a large start-up investment.
The new course, “A Gentle Introduction to Python,” will blend content from M.I.T.’s OpenCourseWare, instant-feedback exercises and quizzes from Codecademy, and study groups organized by OpenStudy, and will be coordinated through an e-mail list operated by Peer 2 Peer University.
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I will mention this to my son, and if he learns from the MOOC, great. But a compiler/interpreter, a book, motivation, and brains is all that is really needed to learn programming.